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Abell 21 and Alula Borealis

Helix

By Helix
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Helix

Helix

Posted
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Hi all,

Just a few objects I discovered for myself recently.
Both with 10" dob and under light polluted skies.

Abell 21 or Medusa nebula in Gemini. How did not I look at this nebula before? I do not know. But it is something. I found this object in the pocket atlas as a PN. I was looking for something small and round, star like because of this designation PK 205+14.1. I started to look for it with 10 XW Pentax and OIII filter and my reaction was WOW. It is a large diffused object with clearly visible nebulosity. Size wise it looks like or bigger than Dumbbell Nebula, I think. It looks like a bitten donut. Averted vision brings out more nebulosity. I changed filter to UHC and suddenly some half round filaments popped out but I lost brightness. UHC brings out some structure, OIII makes it brighter and more homogeneous. WOW. it was discovery for me. I will come back to this object again. So happy to see it. 

Another delightful object is Alula Borealis, Double Star in Ursa Major. Separation 7.4".

Very elegant pair. The main star is 3.5 magnitude and orangey in color but the partner is about 10 magnitude and looks like blue tiny dot. B star was even fainter than Sirius B and probably the same size visually. I would advise to look at this pair. 

Double stars are getting more regular objects on my observing list, especially on nights when humidity is above 90% and lights, sunlike, in my neighbour's garden. Grrrrrrr! I admire observers in England. We should observe only Betelgeuse, Vega and Sirius with weather conditions like that. But we pushing limits and sometimes very successfully.

Clear skies to all,
Tatyana

 

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Piero

Piero

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Another great report Tatyana! :) 

Planetary nebulae are quite funny targets I think.. I remember when I tried the Owl nebula for the first time, I didn't even expect to spot it. Instead, with an OIII filter it was much bigger than what I thought. That is why I don't care too much about what books say about their magnitude. .. and if it happens to spot something, it's always a nice surprise! :) 

 

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Size9Hex

Size9Hex

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Nice one :-)

Lovely description of the Medusa. That's a new one for me. The list of things to see is rapidly growing!

Couldn't agree more about double stars. I'd never have expected they could be so compelling.

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Helix

Helix

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20 hours ago, Piero said:

Another great report Tatyana! :) 

Planetary nebulae are quite funny targets I think.. I remember when I tried the Owl nebula for the first time, I didn't even expect to spot it. Instead, with an OIII filter it was much bigger than what I thought. That is why I don't care too much about what books say about their magnitude. .. and if it happens to spot something, it's always a nice surprise! :) 

 

I would not call my report great but  thanks a lot, Piero! :)  I just was surprised with Abell 21 . When you do not expect anything  special and suddenly large cloud of nebulosity and even some structure, it really made my day. 

And I am falling in love with double stars so cannot hide my feeling from the international brotherhood of amateur astronomers :D 

And I agree about books and I add 'opinions' :) 

 

Tatyana 

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Piero

Piero

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13 minutes ago, Helix said:

I would not call my report great but  thanks a lot, Piero! :) 

Sorry, but when I read about reports including more tricky targets than what I can get with my 60mm - basically almost all! - I get easily caught by a 'wow' feeling! 

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Helix

Helix

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7 hours ago, Size9Hex said:

Nice one :-)

Lovely description of the Medusa. That's a new one for me. The list of things to see is rapidly growing!

Couldn't agree more about double stars. I'd never have expected they could be so compelling.

Thank you, Paul :) 

My list of objects is rapidly growing, too, especially when I read jetstream's reports :( . 

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Helix

Helix

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7 hours ago, YKSE said:

Very nice report, Tatyana:thumbsup: Have just add Abell 21 to my to-do list, seems to be a vary interesting target for filters:smiley:

Thank you, YKSE :) 

 

I was pleasantly surprised how differently OIII and UHC filters revealed this target. 

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Helix

Helix

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11 minutes ago, Piero said:

Sorry, but when I read about reports including more tricky targets than what I can get with my 60mm - basically almost all! - I get easily caught by a 'wow' feeling! 

What you can get with your 60mm -this is what I call WOW. You're really pushing your limits beyond imaginable :) 

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  • 3 weeks later...
jetstream

jetstream

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Great report Tatyana! I just noticed it now and you have observed one I don't think I knew about...we're going to have to check the Medusa neb out now :smiley:Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I was kind of avoiding Gemini because it reminds me of the Cone lol! Actually Gemini is a favorite place.

Excellent observing Helix!

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Helix

Helix

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@jetstream Gerry, thanks!

 

It would be nice to know what filters worked better for you, please. In my case UHC and OIII opened up completely different sides/structure of the nebula. I am not sure, may polluted skies play tricks with my eyes. I still did not observe it under dark skies. 

Many thanks in advance.

Tatyana.

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jetstream

jetstream

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Here is a comment from another observer using a large telescope

"The most beautiful ear of the universe! Responds very well to OIII filter. E side forms filamentous crescent, which is relatively bright in OIII. Inside filled with weaker OIII emission. NW counterpart also visible as an extremely faint crescent along chain of stars, forms with E crescent a closed structure."

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Helix

Helix

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@jetstream Gerry thanks again. I like comparison with the ear. It looks like one. Also reminds me Thor's Helmet nebula visually.

 

Looking forward to read more of your reports.

 

Kind regards,

Tatyana

 

 

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